Frontier Developments the video game developer based on the Science Park here in Cambridge, has today announced a positive trading update to the market which demonstrates continued and accelerating growth.

Having successfully delivered its second game Planet Coaster which was officially launched in November of last year, Frontier has seen revenues to the period ending 30 November2016 jump by an impressive 66% to £18.1m against the £10.9m achieved during the corresponding period.

Planet Coaster is out now

Catching up with Chief Operating Officer David Walsh this morning at the company's HQ, I was able to run over a few aspects of the update, alongside gaining a greater feel for the prospects of the business going forward.

Walsh, was clearly delighted with the performance to date of Planet Coaster which he informed me has achieved an average selling price of £29.99 after attracting a younger audience than that experienced by its first game Elite Dangerous.

Indeed, with 400k sold in the first month, Planet Coaster quickly cemented itself into one of the top three Pre-Xmas launched games and has already contributed to a beating of managements revenue forecasts for the first six months of the year which came despite Elite's sales coming out somewhat softer than anticipated.

That latter point doesn't appear to concern management though, longevity being the name of the game, where peaks and troughs on sales are largely dictated by various additions such as an extended offering in the form of the impending launch on Sony Playstation 4 later this year.

Whilst it is difficult for a company such as Frontier to gauge precisely on visibility and forward numbers across its two games, Walsh says he is comfortable with the full year expectations which broker Numis, having previously pencilled in sales of £32.5m has now inched up to £32.7m.

Commenting further, Walsh who tells me he has been with Frontier since 2001 and the days of being based in a barn at Quy with just twenty heads, says that the company has a clear template going forward to maximise the potential and support the further game franchises as planned.

However, for now he remains tight lipped on any revelation as to news on the next game to emerge from its stable and any impending launch date.

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Although this may provide some short term frustration for shareholders or gaming enthusiasts, there is clearly much going on in the business at present and it appears to be merely a question of timing on that front for further news flow.

With an already large and full parking area at Frontier serving as a testament of sorts to the growth of the business and where I managed to find a solitary space, Walsh is somewhat keen to expand on the area of recruiting to the business.

“We are very much on a recruitment drive and have been for a while now, covering areas from programming to soft skills, art and animation, game design and technical support”.

Planet Coaster is out now

Whilst acknowledging Cambridge is a great place to be located and that Frontier takes on graduates from the University, Walsh also points out that recruiting the best and brightest sees it casting the net further afield to the likes of Oxford and London.

Additionally, the recent news that Sony is to close its Cambridge-based Guerrilla video games studios is also picked up on, the suggestion being that this could provide an ideal opportunity to strengthen a headcount that is now in excess of three hundred and which is divided across two Science Park locations.

On the financial front, as Planet Coaster is sold indirectly there are costs on goods sold to be factored into any forecasts, along with currency movements and expense relating to development of its third franchise.

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But, taking such factors into consideration should not detract from the clear potential that is now emerging, where Frontier is already carrying those development costs relating to its third game and which sees Walsh pointing out that the company has now truly successfully migrated to the self published model.

And, with the CO Stressing that with its own Cobra tooling technology it is is able to tweak and adapt games to its own vision, there is plenty to go for in the years ahead, which further down the line could even provide additional income from other emerging gaming companies looking to license the cobra technology.

Having enjoyed a good run on the share front since I last looked in, my suggestion that with a market cap of circa £100m Frontier could be perceived by some as being more than up with events is batted down by Walsh, who cites Swedish games developer Paradox as being indicative of the underlying strength across the wider sector and the valuations that are attributed to such businesses.

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Would Frontier perhaps consider a dual listing then I enquire, to perhaps broaden the investor reach and even raise a profile that still appears to be operating below the radar.

“We are very much a British company and extremely proud of that, so no, there aren't any plans for going down that route, although, if there was a need or sound reason for that at some point, then I guess we would never say never".

Going forward, holders of the shares will no doubt be keen to glean more from the interim results due next month which may contain something on the next franchise and any intended launch date.

Whilst that remains veiled at present, it is arguably interesting to note broker Numis does not include any revenue in its forward numbers for such a third release, which potentially provides for some decent uplift on next years forecast numbers depending on timing and content.

Having moved from a static position on the self publishing model to almost three million customers and more than £30m of revenue in just three years, few can surely doubt the achievement made by Frontier and the potential that undoubtedly exists in what remains a vast and burgeoning market.

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Additionally, although still in its formative years and largely prohibitively expensive, the virtual reality experience such as that achieved through oculus rift is ripe for Frontiers games such as that of Elite Dangerous.

“We were well aware of the potential and where things would head across that area” says Walsh, “and Elite is very much ideally suited to such technology. "In the future prices will no doubt come down and make it more accessible to a wider audience, so we are certainly well placed on that front.”

Despite Numis currently moving to a hold stance from buy with a £3.00p target price following the recently strong share price performance, it also highlights the potential upside relating to an already proven ability to release successful titles, where it cites one major success as having the prospect of commanding a price of more than £12.00p per share.

For now, whilst that remains firmly on the blue sky horizon, it does nevertheless provide a tantalizing glimpse of the potential upside for long term investors and supporters.